Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review: ( 1 Customer Review )

Lovely MusicJuly 18, 2014By Henry S. (Springfield, VA)See All My Reviews"This is the other side of Gustav Holst, far removed from the powerful, ethereal splendor of his great symphonic suite The Planets. On this Naxos disk, we have lighter, largely pastoral works of much shorter duration. The adjective which immediately sprang to mind while listening to this recording for the first time was 'elegant'; indeed, that's what this music is. All selections have that distinctive ambience of the string orchestra playing at its outer limits- just listen to the St. Paul's Suite to see what I mean. In several of the works, winds are effectively and lightly integrated into the dominant string sound to produce an even higher level of expressiveness. Especially impressive are the string intensity of the St. Paul's Suite (mentioned above) and the lovely Concerto for Two Violins, which closes out the recording. The English Sinfonia, a very fine small chamber orchestra based near London, is nothing short of sensational in its interpretations of Holst's very attractive scores, and the orchestra is sympathetically and energetically led by conductor Howard Griffiths. As usual, Naxos' sound qualities are unbeatable. All in all, this disk of charming, relaxing English music is a real winner. Highly recommended."Report Abuse